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Hi From Florida,

New to cheese making... I started with mozzerella and haven't had much success till this past weekend where it actually seemed to work but it wound up hard, dry and not very tasty.  I was reading through the forum and read that it was a harder cheese to make....

Where does one start?  What cheese should I be making first?  This forum has a ton of information which seems to be great, but also really difficult too... don't know where to begin.

Thanks

I'd suggest starting with soft cheeses, feta, cream cheese, yogurt, and working your way up to Jack or Havarti, and then hard cheeses, and then bloomy rind, and then blue.

Hi Cutting,
When I started making cheese, I wanted to make hard cheeses like gouda. Ricki Carroll's advice (http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/246-FAQ-Cheesemaking-for-Beginners.html) was to start with fresh cheese (like how Stinky suggests). I started with yogurt cheese first (it's just filtered yogurt), then cottage cheese. Then, I bought her hard cheese kit and made monterrey jack and finally gouda. I hope that helps. Keep trying!

Welcome to the forum.

I started with Feta. It is fun to make and tastes wonderfull. Remember to read the recipe from start to end and note the equipment required.

I'm mostly making hard cheeses at the moment but I still haven't been able to make a good batch of decent Mozerella...

Fell free to ask any questions in the forum - people here are so helpful.

Remember: There are no stupid questions!

:-) Danbo

Thanks Guys... I think Ill start with  a Feta.... any one have a tried and true recipe? I have one in a book that i bought but figure I'll ask...  I do want to do hard cheese eventually and started looking at what fridges to buy and humidity and temp controls etc... but if i can get some success under the belt with Feta that would be great.

One other question... if you do a hard cheese and wax it or vaccuum pack it.... is humidity still important?

Quote from: cuttingcheese on January 06, 2015, 09:18:26 PM
One other question... if you do a hard cheese and wax it or vaccuum pack it.... is humidity still important?

No, the wax or plastic will protect the cheese. My "cave" is definitely way too dry, but I can get good results by waxing once the rind reaches the dryness I want.

A couple of really excellent cheeses to learn on are Caerphilly and Lancashire -- do a search in the forum for recipes. They ripen quickly (3 to 6 weeks, respectively) and taste marvelous. I like to leave these unwaxed, scrubbing off any mold that comes along with salt and vinegar. In my dry cave, they achieve a wonderfully chewy rind that is possibly even more delicious than the paste!

Can any suggest a good cheese press?  One that I dont have to guess how many lbs I'm pressing down on?

John, is your Perfect Cheese press ready to market?

The universal rookie cheese making question----check this link  https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13723.msg103779.html#msg103779

CC,

The first place I always start when learning something new is YouTube.  There are also a lot of free articles on cheese making that will indicate that fresh cheeses are a good place to start.  I would, however, modify that statement by saying quick, simple recipes are a good place to start.  Some cheese recipes make you wait overnight for cultures to work, like feta. 

I actually started with the 30 minute Mozzarella Kit and was successful.  Ricotta, Lemon Cheese, Paneer or any of the acid coagulated recipes are great for learning cheese making.

Learn, create good habits and have fun.

--JB

Thanks... I have been all over youtube!!! lol... I'm going to try mozzerella again... and then go from there...

Quote from: cuttingcheese on January 11, 2015, 03:42:37 AM
Thanks... I have been all over youtube!!! lol... I'm going to try mozzerella again... and then go from there...

Oh my, the worst cheese to start with in my experience.

Quote from: pastpawn on January 11, 2015, 06:23:14 AM

Quote from: cuttingcheese on January 11, 2015, 03:42:37 AM
Thanks... I have been all over youtube!!! lol... I'm going to try mozzerella again... and then go from there...

Oh my, the worst cheese to start with in my experience.

What is your suggestion... and have a recipe to share?  I was thinking of doing a feta but then read some posts here and now reconsidering my next steps.  Anyone have a double boiler you love?  Trying to gather all the things that I will need including a wine fridge... was considering a cave cube, but i think that may be over the top.. especially if i vacuum seal.  I know that cheese like brie will need the humidity though.... Just so confusing... maybe get two fridges one for soft cheeses and one for hards is what I am thinking... I need to find a couple of nice wine coolers, since they will in my dining room, I want something that will look nice... If anyone has suggestions there I'll take them.

I am a major failure at mozz.  Maybe it's just me, but they never turn out.  I have made it in under an hour where it turned out great, but I've had many more failures to the point that I might not ever make it again. 

I think feta and riccata are easy cheeses but I haven't made them.

I thought camembert was really easy to make and turned out great.  Cheddars also have been fairly easy.  Pretty much everything else has turned out fine except mozz. 

Thanks pastpawn... I'm trying to find a decent press so I can be prepared for cheddar!!!  I want to do parm as well.